Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Targo

As the population of the Red Planet steadily grew and the colonial domains were booming. The Empire decided that it was time that private companies were allowed access to this unexploited market. As part of the great industrialization rush, many licenses were sold to private contractors ranging from permits to harvest the Red Planet’s algae to the transport of colonists between the hundreds of isolated colonies. The license of the public transport was eventually won by Targo, an intergalactic giant which also owned large parts of the Imperial transport system. Some say that the license was bought for more than Ω 575 000 000, the largest sum ever paid for a single planetary license in Imperial history!

One of Targo’s first problems was to create a safe but fast transportation network. The solution was found in the Imperial Public Transport System or IPTS, a vaste tunnel network which connected the dozens of large isolated Imperial colonies such as Relic and Imdor. The problem with this system however was the cost of a ticket and the obligation to own an Imperial pass as the Empire was strict on regulations. The cheapest solution was the creation of a large bus network that connected several non-Imperial or illegal colonies with each other. The downsides of this transportation network were the duration of the journeys and the large risk of being raided as these convoys often crossed hundreds of miles of barren wasteland. As precaution, many of the buses were fitted with extra armour plating and were always accompanied by armed escorts manned by ex-Imperial soldiers and mercenaries. Even with all these safety measurements, many convoys were often utterly destroyed and the passengers sold as slaves to Kultheans plantation owners. In an attempt to prevent the raids and increase their image, Targo founded his own military branch which sole task was to destroy Tulain and raider villages in the proximity of the bus routes.

One of the armored buses being inspected by members of the Imperial Custom Authorities on the planet of Tesla Inka, the largest manufacturer of unarmed military vehicles in the galaxy.

By the end of the great industrialization of the Red Planet, Targo became one of the most important private contractors on the Red Planet as they had the monopoly for all the public transportation. This monopoly was further strengthened as the Empire made great military use of the vaste and fast transportation network when the Tulain Rebellion broke out.